The ties that bind
by mandeyinwonderland
Summary: Following Narcissa through Andromeda leaving, how does she deal with losing her big sister? Strong elements of Lucissa, naturally. Rated M for possible violence later on.
1. Chapter 1

Fifteen year old Narcissa Black looked at herself in the mirror, searching for any imperfections she could find. Of course her Mother expected nothing less than perfection for her daughters, they always had to look perfect. They were Blacks, nothing less was to be expected. It was the annual family Christmas dinner, her Mother loved throwing lavish Christmas parties every year, inviting all of the elite pureblood families. It was basically a time for her parents to show off how much money that had and how well they'd done. Usually, Narcissa would get bored, she'd try to get away but Druella loved to show off her youngest daughter, her little pride and joy. Narcissa usually hated having to socialise. This year there was one crucial difference though, _Lucius Malfoy._ Of course Narcissa had a crush on him for years, her being two years younger than him, she never dreamed that he would feel the same. However, this year he'd asked her on a date and it had spiralled from there, they quickly became serious.

"Are you ready yet Narcissa?" Druella Black asked, looking up and down at her daughter, making sure that she was wearing what she had laid out for her

"Yes Mother" Narcissa said, smiling. Oh she knew so well how to play her part, just as her sisters did. Her parents didn't really care as long as they did that. As long as they upheld the Black family name and did not bring shame upon the family

"I look forward to meeting Lucius formally. I am so proud of you Narcissa. You can hardly do better than a Malfoy" Druella said

"I know, I am very lucky" Narcissa said. Of course that wasn't why Narcissa had agreed to go on dates with him. No, it was the way that he treated her like she was made of glass, the way he always complimented her, even if she had just woken up. It was the way, that on their first date, he blushed and stuttered when he saw her all dressed up. She'd told Bellatrix this, and Bella being Bella she'd just rolled her eyes. Narcissa often wondered if there really was any love in Bella's marriage. Her sister had married Rodolphus Lestrange straight out of Hogwarts but there seemed to be no spark in their marriage, no shy looks, nothing.

"You are. Now I need to go to remind Cora and Eva how important today is" Druella said, and left the room

Cora and Eva were the family house elves. They had basically raised Narcissa and her sisters. Druella and Cygnus had never really been very close to their daughters. Cygnus was a little closer to Narcissa, she was his little princess, he'd always been softer on her than he was Andromeda and Bellatrix. Druella on the other hand was not as soft. Not that she was ever abusive, but rather she was harsher on her daughters, she expected perfection. Perfect grades, perfect behaviour, perfect relationships. Narcissa often wondered why but she knew it was to do with being a Black, there was always some kind of expectation to be better than everyone else.

She looked at herself in the mirror for a few more seconds, Druella hadn't said anything was wrong with how she looked so Narcissa assumed that meant that her Mother approved. She glanced at the clock and smiled, 11oclock, that meant that Lucius would be here any moment now.

Just then she heard a tapping on the door, and her Mother gushing. She made her way downstairs and smiled at Lucius. He was looking handsome as ever in dark red robes, he looked at her and returned the smile

"Narcissa my dear you look beautiful" He said, not taking his eyes off her

"Mother may I take Lucius for a walk around the grounds?" She asked, already embarrassed at her Mother

"Of course..I must find Andromeda anyway" Druella said, heading back up the stairs

Narcissa linked her arm though Lucius's and led him outside to the large gardens

"You really do look...exquisite" Lucius said, his eyes still fixed on her face

"Thank you, you too..I mean, you look handsome" Narcissa said, a small blush rising on her cheeks. Merlin, why did he make her feel like this, she always tried to keep her cool around him but he always did this to her, made her stomach go in knots.

"Thank you. Oh, I wanted to give you this, before the dinner starts" Lucius said, reaching into his pocket and handing her a small wrapped box, Narcissa smiled and tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box, revealing a beautiful white gold necklace, with a small heart charm.

"It's..beautiful, thank you" Narcissa smiled, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him "I have your present back in the house"

"Your company is all I need" Lucius said

Narcissa was just about to reply when she heard a shriek from inside the house, her Fathers shriek "IS THIS A JOKE ANDROMEDA?"

Narcissa's heart caught in her throat and glanced at Lucius before running into the house, wondering what could have happened

 **Thought I would establish the story first, I plan on making this quite long too...**


	2. Chapter 2

As they both arrived in the house, Narcissa saw Andromeda surrounded by bags, seemingly having packed in a hurry with her parents facing her, her Mother sobbing and her Father with anger on his face, something Narcissa had never seen.

"Why would I lie about this Father? I loved Ted. Yes he is a muggleborn, and if you can't accept that then I am leaving" Andromeda said, her face unreadable

 _Ted. Ted._ Narcissa couldn't quite think of who he was, then it dawned on her, Ted Tonks, he was in Andromeda's year, a Hufflepuff. She'd heard rumours about Andromeda spending time with him but she had brushed that off. Thinking it was just like Bella, Bella had messed around with some boys back in her day. Flirting and sleeping with them to get what she wanted. Usually just someone to do her homework or something but no..this seemed like something more, something serious.

"You understand that if you step outside that door, you are walking away from your family forever?" Cygnus asked, staring at Andromeda

"Yes. I know. I love Ted" She answered, still with a blank face

"Leave. You have five minutes" Cygnus said coldly, leaving the room, Druella following close behind

"Can you..leave us for a moment?" Narcissa asked Lucius, he watched for moment before nodding and leaving

"Why...why would you do this?" Narcissa asked, once Lucius had left

"I love Ted, Ciss. He's the one i'm meant to be with. I love him" Andromeda said, a softer look to her sister now

"You would chose love over your own family?" Narcissa asked, tears stinging her eyes

"Yes...yes...I would. Ciss this family is a trap. You have to perform for love. You have to work for Mother and Fathers affection. It's not like that with Ted. He loves me, he accepts me for everything I am. I don't have to be anything other than myself for him" Andromeda said, her voice catching, threatening to cry too

"I love you. Me and Bella need you. We all stick together"

"Bella will be fine, she's got her _master_ , she's got Rodolphus, she won't even notice i've gone" Andromeda said quietly

"I'll..I'll notice" Narcissa whispered, the tears now spilling over her eyes

"You'll be okay..you have Lucius now" Andromeda said, stepping forward hugging Narcissa

This couldn't be happening. Just yesterday she and Andy had been hiding away from their mother in the vast grounds of the estate, Andromeda teasing Narcissa about how giggly and how much she blushed over Lucius. Andromeda saying they'd make beautiful babies. Now that seemed like a liefetime ago. Now all the perfection had faded away

"St...stay" Naricssa said, her voice breaking

"I can't, I can't chose our family over him. I love him Ciss"

Narcissa knew she had to pretend like she didn't care, it would make this easier, cutting off the ties. "Fine, go with a mudblood, see if I care" She said with a scowl, this is what her parents wanted from her, this is what they would expect from her

"Ciss..please don" Andromeda said, cut off by Bellatrix "I can hardly believe it, you a blood traitor, get out. Father doesn't wish to see you" Came her cold voice

Andromeda sighed, she knew there was no reasoning with Bellatrix before taking hold of her bags and disapperated leaving Narcissa and Bellatrix, in a room that felt much too empty

"You are never to see her again. You understand?" Bellatrix asked, talking to Narcissa like she was a child

"Yes. I know. Please excuse me" Narcissa said, feeling her strong facade ready to break. There was only one person she needed, _Lucius._ She needed his comforting arms around her, only he would make this feel better.

She left the room, and found herself wrapped up in Lucius's arms

"You heard..."She muttered

"Yes...yes I did. I am so so sorry Ciss" He said, stroking her hair and pressing a kiss to her forehead. They stood in silence for a few minutes, no words were needed at the moment, Narcissa just needed to feel him with her, knowing that he was there for her.

"I'm here, I love you" He said soothingly

This is why Narcissa loved him, one of the many many reasons why she loved him. Whatever his thoughts and feelings were towards Andromeda were at the moment, that didn't matter. What mattered was he was there, he was able to put that aside to be there, to be her comfort.


End file.
